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oMEGACat V: Helium Enrichment in ω Centauri as a Function of Metallicity

  • C. Clontz
  • , A. C. Seth
  • , Z. Wang
  • , S. O. Souza
  • , M. Häberle
  • , M. S. Nitschai
  • , N. Neumayer
  • , M. Latour
  • , A. P. Milone
  • , A. Feldmeier-Krause
  • , N. Kacharov
  • , M. Libralato
  • , A. Bellini
  • , G. van de Ven
  • , M. Alfaro-Cuello

Veröffentlichungen: Working PaperPreprint

Abstract

Constraining the helium enhancement in stars is critical for understanding the formation mechanisms of multiple populations in star clusters. However, measuring helium variations for many stars within a cluster remains observationally challenging. We use Hubble Space Telescope photometry combined with MUSE spectroscopic data for over 7,200 red-giant branch stars in \omc\ to measure helium differences between distinct groups of stars as a function of metallicity separating the impact of helium enhancements from other abundance variations on the pseudo-color (chromosome) diagrams. Our results show that stars at all metallicities have subpopulations with significant helium enhancement ($\Delta Y_{min} \gtrsim$ 0.11). We find a rapid increase in helium enhancement from low metallicities ($\rm{[Fe/H] \simeq -2.05}$ to $\rm{[Fe/H] \simeq -1.92})$, with this enhancement leveling out at \deltay\ $= 0.154$ at higher metallicities. The fraction of helium-enhanced stars steadily increases with metallicity ranging from 10\% at $\rm{[Fe/H] \simeq -2.04}$ to over $90\%$ at $\rm{[Fe/H] \simeq -1.04}$. This study is the first to examine helium enhancement across the full range of metallicities in \omc{}, providing new insight into its formation history and additional constraints on enrichment mechanisms.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Herausgeber*inarXiv
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 1 Dez. 2024

ÖFOS 2012

  • 103003 Astronomie
  • 103004 Astrophysik

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